Daily Archives: October 13, 2013

The Massive Metadata Machine: Liberty, Power, and Secret Mass Surveillance in the U.S. and Europe, Bryce Clayton Newell, University of Washington – The Information School, October 11, 2013. I/S: A Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society (ISJLP), 10, 2014

“This paper explores the relationship between liberty and security implicated by secret government mass surveillance programs. It includes both doctrinal and theoretical analysis. Methodologically, the paper examines judicial reasoning in cases where parties have challenged secret government surveillance programs on Constitutional or human rights grounds in both United States’ Courts and at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Theoretically, this paper will draw on theories in the fields of law, surveillance studies, and political theory to question how greater recognition of citizen rights to conduct reciprocal surveillance of government activity (for example, through expanded rights to freedom of information) might properly balance power relations between governments and their people. Specifically, the paper will question how liberal and neo-republican conceptions of liberty, defined as the absence of actual interference and the possibility of arbitrary domination, respectively, and the jurisprudence of the ECtHR can inform the way we think about the proper relationship between security and liberty in the post-9/11, post-Snowden United States of America.”

Oxford University – Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne: The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation? “We examine how susceptible jobs are to computerisation. To assess this, we begin by implementing a novel methodology to estimate the probability of computerisation for 702 detailed occupations, using a Gaussian process classifier. Based on… Continue Reading

“This first OECD Skills Outlook presents the initial results of the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), which evaluates the skills of adults in 24 countries. It provides insights into the availability of some of the key skills and how they are used at work and at home. A major component is the direct assessment of key information-processing… Continue Reading

“In a letter to the Senate and House Committees on Education, EPIC has asked Congress to restore privacy protections for student data. EPIC’s letter follows a court opinion concerning recent changes to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. EPIC has warned that the changes in the student privacy law allow the release of student… Continue Reading

September 26, 2013, Testimony by Dean Baker [Center for Economic and Policy Research] before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs: “For the last four decades the Postal Service has been operating with a mandate under which it was expected to compete with private companies. The expectation has been that the Postal Service would… Continue Reading

“Statistical information is an important tool for understanding and quantifying the impact of political decisions in a specific territory or region. The Eurostat regional yearbook 2013 gives a detailed picture relating to a broad range of statistical topics across the regions of the Member States of the European Union (EU), as well as the regions… Continue Reading

“The current across-the-board cuts in federal spending have already damaged both national security and the economy, with the negative impact likely to double or triple in the next two years, according to a study released today by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC). The analysis was co-chaired by former Senators Pete Domenici, a BPC senior fellow,… Continue Reading

Via Lola Olson – Innovation Excellence: “Many of us live in environments where we’re surrounded by all types of technology, so we tend to take the accessibility it provides to information for granted. We often forget that technology enables us in so many ways, not just to communicate with one another, but to work for… Continue Reading

From the start, signs of trouble at health portal: Many deadlines missed – NYT, by Robert Pear, Sharon LaFraniere and Ian Austen: “For the past 12 days, a system costing more than $400 million and billed as a one-stop click-and-go hub for citizens seeking health insurance has thwarted the efforts of millions to simply log… Continue Reading

Rather than savage cuts, Switzerland considers “Star Trek” economics, by Josh Eidelson. “By gathering over 100,000 signatures – which they delivered last Friday along with 8 million 5-cent coins representing the country’s population – activists have secured a vote by Switzerland’s parliament on an audacious proposal: providing a basic monthly income of about $2,800 U.S. dollars to each adult… Continue Reading

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